Opinions of our scientists are meaningful in academic rankings!
International university rankings generate a lot of excitement both among students, who want to know which universities are worth studying at, and among scientists, who want to see how the institution they work at compares to others.
And which indicators are the most important in the rankings? Apart from the number of publications in prestigious journals and citations, which prove a high level of scientific research, as well as the number of students in relation to the number of academic teachers, being a proof of a good quality of education, what matters is the recognition of the university among the academic staff.
As many as three of the most prominent academic rankings-Times Higher Education, QS, and U.S. News- take into account, by a significant percentage, scientists’ opinions about the reputation of universities. This indicator is 25% significant in the US News ranking, 33% in the Times Higher Education ranking and as much as 40% in the QS ranking. The research on universities’ recognition is conducted by means of questionnaires sent by ranking institutions to the academic staff from all over the world, including the academics of the University of Wrocław. The researchers can indicate both domestic and foreign universities, which in their opinion are characterized by a high level of scientific research. Due to the detailed nature of some of the questions, ranking organizations invite to the survey those academics who are experts in their fields, what increases its credibility.
According to “Perspektywy” magazine, surveys examining the prestige of universities are meticulously filled out by researchers from Western Europe, China, USA or Russia who are aware of their great importance. Polish scientists unfortunately do not attach importance to them, which is a big mistake.
That’s why we appeal to our researchers: don’t throw reputation surveys into the bin! The fact that you have received a questionnaire means that your opinion on scientific institutions is valuable for the most important university rankings in the world. You had been nominated by your Polish or foreign colleagues with whom you collaborate to share your opinion or you had been listed in one of the major scientific databases such as Elsevier.
You may have recently received the Academic Reputation Survey from the email address: profilerankings@timeshighereducation.com. This is a survey from the Times Higher Education ranking organization that is collecting feedback till the end of February. Please complete it as fully as you can. QS will be conducting a similar survey over the next few months, the survey email should come from the following address: rankings@qs.com .
If you can have an impact on how the universities you do research with and publish with, those ones that you know are doing quality science, will rank, use it.
